Instant Darkness Generates Instant Love
by HermioneTwin
Summary: Fred needs help with a certain new product of his. Hermione hesitantly accepts but will she regret her decision once the lights go out? What could possibly happen to our cute little twosome once total darkness surrounds them? HermioneFred! oneshot!


**A.N: Okay, okay, okay! I **_**know**_** what happens in DH, considering the fact that I read the thing in two sleepless nights and have reread it two or three times since, but you've gotta hear me out people! I **_**completely **_**fell in love with the Hermione/Fred pairing **_**right before**_** DH came out…seriously, I probably read my first Hr/F fic, like, a week before Deathly Hallows was released…but then, you know, the horrific, terrible, gut wrenching, tear jerking, horrible, horrible incident happened and well…I fell into a mild depression! Honestly…**

**So now, even though I know (but do not accept) the fact that Fred is gone, I've still decided to write a Fred/Hermione fic, because if you look at it morally, Fred will only cease to exist once we truly stop writing about him, right? (And I know that he can't **_**technically**_** cease to exist, as he already is a fictional character, but I don't give a damn, in my head HP is very, very real! And no, I'm not insane…cough).**

**So, to sum up this little rant of mine, Fred is still very much alive to me and that is why I have chosen to keep going with this adorable little pairing! For full appreciation, you might want to ignore a few other things that happened in DH as well…it'll just fit better if you do! **

**Well, enjoy my dears! I really hope you like it:)**

**Cheers! **

**HermioneTwin**

**Disclaimer: Well, look at it subjectively people. If you have enough common sense and intelligence to read, then one could certainly deduce that you hold enough sense to see that I am not, in any way J.K and that I do not, under any circumstances, own HP, right? Though so…. **

**Instant Darkness Generates Instant Love**

Hermione Granger was bored.

No, actually bored didn't really count as an appropriate term for her current state of mind.

Hermione Granger was down right, smash your head against the wall; pull your hair out strand-by-strand, want to scream out at the top of your lungs and jump out the window just to have something to do, bored to death.

Yep…that sounds more fitting.

So, you might be wondering why on earth a young girl quite as smart, sensible and civilized as our dear Hermione would be envisaging such dreadful acts such as jumping out windows, right?

Well, to put it quite plainly, the Burrow wasn't _nearly_ as interesting when one was completely alone with no one else for company except a few houseflies and a fairly disgusting green thing that had been crawling around on the ceiling for the past half hour.

Yes, that's just how bored she really was. She had actually been staring at the ceiling for the past half hour…

To add to her misery, it was raining outside, and though she usually quite enjoyed the rain, today was a strong exception. She really wouldn't of minded a long walk through the Burrow's garden, considering the fact that she was pretty certain that the four walls of the living room had been closing in around her for the past two hours…slowly suffocating her with further boredom and dust particles…

Everyone had abandoned her for the stupid reason that they had errands to run and she was not allowed to leave the house as she was supposedly sick…which was of course completely untrue, Hermione had never felt better!

It was all Fred's fault, really.

For some reason still entirely unknown to Hermione, halfway through yesterday night's 'welcome back' feast that Molly had cooked up for her arrival, Fred, who had been sitting beside Hermione at the time, had leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear that he had quite missed her during the first half of summer vacation and that he was truly glad to see her again.

He had been really quite close to her and the entire thing had just sent this wild blush creeping onto Hermione's face.

Mrs.Weasley, who of course just _has _to notice every single, little detail, quickly noted Hermione's strange expression, deduced that she must be running a fever, sent her up to her room and forbid her to leave the house for another three days!

Three days!

And Hermione could've sworn that Fred winked at her as she left the table…

So now, here she was; all alone and bored to the point of watching the house flies who were now trying to decide their plan of action on how to kill and eat the green thing without suffering personal injuries, while the others went prancing around Diagon Alley.

_Woop-di-doo. _

She was just starting to wonder if Mrs.Weasley would mind much if she decided to rearrange all the furniture in the living room (what? She was _really_ bored, ok?), when she heard the front door slowly creak open.

Hermione blanched.

No one was supposed to be back for another three hours, at least! Could it be a burglar…or worse, a raving lunatic with a gun, or dare she think a wand in his hand?

_Oh come on, you're being ridiculous! _She mentally scolded herself.

_There is no way a Muggle burglar could've gotten past Mr.Weasley's wards…and anyway, who on earth would want to march up to the Burrow in such terrible weather! There aren't even any cars in the driveway! I mean, if I was a raving lunatic, I'd make sure there were people in the house to actually kill before breaking an entry, right? But then again, if I was a raving lunatic, I probably wouldn't have all that much sense in the first place, so I wouldn't really think to use logic anyway…_

_Oh, shut up already! You're being ludicrous! Quit being so paranoid and go see who it is!_

So, Hermione quietly got up and crept into the kitchen to check out her mystery lunatic, bringing her wand along just in case…

She needn't of worried though, for as soon she rounded the corner and entered the kitchen, she came face to face with none other than the man who had cost her her liberty, dear Fred Weasley.

She let out a sigh of relief and rolled her eyes at her own stupidity.

Well, at least I was right about the lunatic part… 

"Hey, Granger." He said, smiling down at her (Hermione suddenly wished she wasn't so damn small.).

"Hey, Fred." She said, while turning around and going back to her belovedcough resting place, namely the living room's couch. Not that she wanted to go back there, her back was practically screaming in outrage, but she felt rather stupid just standing in the doorway in front of Fred like an idiot with her wand in her hand.

"What were you doing with your wand in your hand?" Fred asked from behind, as if reading her thoughts.

Hermione blushed slightly.

"I see you haven't gotten over that fever of yours." He added with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." Hermione exclaimed while trying to suppress a sudden fit of giggles. He did always have that effect on her…

"I was just a bit scared that you were a burglar or something." She explained, all the while blushing more and more as he just wouldn't stop staring at her with that big lopsided grin of his.

"It never did occur to you, my sweet little supposedly smartest-witch-of-her-age Hermione, that there is absolutely no way in Hell that a Muggle burglar could've ever gotten across our wards without suffering extreme physical and, or mental damage?" Fred asked, cocking his eyebrow playfully as he spoke.

Hermione stared down at her toes while fruitlessly trying to hide her blush. She was _seriously_ beginning to regret that one little moment of doubtful fear.

"Well, yes it did actually! But it could've been a wizard, you know! Not all thieves are Muggles, my dear little oh-so-eager-to-be-outrageously-cocky Fred." She retorted, adding a little smirk of her own after her last statement.

Fred seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"But, my pretty little thinks-she's-oh-so-clever-but-has-missed-a-vital-point Hermione, every wizard alive that resides within a reasonable radius of here knows perfectly well that the Weasleys, although as amazing and spectacular as we are, really have nothing much worth stealing and certainly nothing worth being shipped off to Azkaban for or suffering great injuries from the aftereffects of our wards or the battle that would surely ensue if someone were home and found a thief entering their property." Fred said easily, with much repressed triumph and an obvious glee in his eyes at having stumped the brilliant Hermione Granger.

Hermione stood open mouthed for a second, before snapping her jaw shut with a smile.

"Oh, but my adorable little assumes-he-has-beaten-me-at-a-game-of-wits-but-really-could-never-do-such-a-thing-but-it's-really-cute-that-you-think-you-can Fred, you seem to have forgotten the very vital and crucial fact that there are still hundreds of potentially dangerous and maybe even deadly Death Eaters on the loose, just waiting for an opportunity to strike. The Weasleys may not be known for possessing the most gold, jewels or powerful Dark artifacts, but they are nonetheless a definite member of the Order of the Phoenix and loyal supporters of Albus Dumbledore. Countless Death Eaters would kill, literally, to get their hands on you and your family. And furthermore, wizards as trained and as knowledgeable in the Dark Arts as are our dear little friends out there are, could easily get through these wards without much trouble at all. Therefore, I was perfectly entitled to be a bit scared and it was entirely within my rights to bring my wand along to the front door to defend myself, when some unknown stranger suddenly barges into my midst." Hermione said, not even bothering to hide her triumphant smirk.

Fred just stared at her with wide eyes and his mouth slightly ajar.

"Ha, and double ha." She concluded smugly.

He shook his head dumbly, strongly reminding Hermione of some poor mutt after enduring an enforced bath, before smiling again and giving Hermione a look that held some kind of fondness that she had never really noticed within his gaze.

"Alright, you win. I don't even know why I bothered, actually!" He said, chuckling slightly.

"Because, you're really a very stupid man." Hermione said with a laugh.

Fred's chuckling suddenly turned into a sad little smile.

"Yeah…I know I am." He said with a sigh.

Hermione's eyes widened in alarm. She certainly hadn't intended on hurting him or anything! Why did he look so depressed all of a sudden?

"Oh, no! I didn't mean it that way at all Fred! I was just kidding, honest! I think you're brilliant, actually!" Hermione said, cringing slightly as her last comment accidentally slipped out.

Fred's eyes flashed to meet hers with another unusual spark of happiness.

"You think I'm brilliant?" He asked, giving her a flirtatious wink, only to embarrass her further.

Hermione cleared her throat uneasily and started to fidget with the hem of her skirt.

"Well…yes, I suppose. I mean, you and George have really invented some impressing stuff you know…not that it's always appropriate or safe, but it is very clever magic, even I can admit to that." She said quickly, regretting her slip of the tongue more and more every second.

But Fred's grin was quite contagious, and as Hermione looked up from her skirt and into his eyes, she found a slow smile creeping its way onto her face as well.

"Well thank you very much, my cute little has-suddenly-become-quite-adorable-with-her-smile-and-blush Hermione. It means a lot coming from a girl that was quite known to despise our products for such a long time." He quipped with another wink.

"I didn't _hate _them! I just didn't like you testing them on first years is all." She exclaimed defensively.

Fred shrugged.

"Yeah, well still…" He said, plopping down next to Hermione onto the couch.

Hermione shook her head at the look he gave her before adding, "Why did you say you were stupid, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be the infinitively cocky and self-confident one? Why the sudden self-doubt?" She questioned curiously.

At this, Fred stared down at his hands, the sad grin making its way back onto his normally beaming features.

"You really want to know why?" He asked.

"Sure…?" She answered uneasily. She wasn't used to him acting this intense.

Fred took a deep breath.

"I'm falling for a girl that can't ever want me back. She's absolutely perfect and I can never have her." Fred said miserably, staring deep into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione found another blush attack erupt onto her face, but couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from his.

"A-And…ummm…who is this girl, exactly?" She asked uncertainly.

Fred suddenly cracked another huge grin as he jumped right back up from his sitting position.

"If you want to know _that_, my dear, you'll have to help me out with a little something first. Nothing dangerous, I promise. You shouldn't die, unless you're exceptionally clumsy and happen to choke on air or something while you're helping me out." He said teasingly, the unusual look in his eyes not disappearing this time as he spoke.

At this, Hermione's mind started whirring wildly in a haze on uncertainty.

This was, after all, Fred-freaking-Weasley! One of the two most mischievous, sneaky and down right way too humor addicted for your own good guys she had ever met in her entire life!

Who was to say that this wasn't just one of his crazy pranks? If she accepted, he could very well make her do just about anything his impish little heart desired…honestly, even if he _did_ say it wasn't at all dangerous, one really shouldn't measure their danger intensity by a Weasley twin scale. Standing in the middle of a tornado, filled with twirling knives and a couple of rabid cows, under hundreds of lightning bolts, wearing a coat made of metal and sitting on the only tree in the center of a deserted field, would probably be considered a typical Friday night for those two!

But, even when keeping in mind all of that all too alarming information, Hermione just couldn't bring herself to say no.

The look he was giving her was purely tortuous! Really, it shouldn't even be legal to have the capacity to make puppy dog eyes like that! How could she say no to him?

And anyway…he had never _really_ given her a reason to not trust him. Fred had never even played a proper prank on her, come to think of it! He was just asking for a favor…

And as much as Hermione hated to admit it, she was down right curious too! Who on earth could Fred possibly like this much? The girl was obviously breaking the poor guy's heart! The mystery of it all was practically eating her alive already!

"Alright, fine! I'll help you." Hermione finally said, laughing slightly at the expression of over-inflated happiness that flitted across Fred's face as she agreed to his request.

"Excellent!" He exclaimed.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm before asking, "What is it that I have to do, master?"

Fred smirked.

"Nothing much, my dear. It's quite simple actually! Me and George-"

"George and I," Hermione interrupted innocently.

Fred sighed and shook his head sadly, as if having proper grammar was really something to be ashamed of.

"As I was saying, _George and I _have invented this new product, you see. It isn't very complicated. Remember that powder that we came up with a while ago that makes everything go black for a few seconds?" He asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Well, we got a number of complaints saying that the blackout necessary to escape just wasn't long enough and that half the time our users weren't even out the door when the light came back on, which sort of defies the whole purpose of the thing. So we decided to alter our product a bit. We've created a new version that gives our customers ten full seconds to escape, instead of five. It may not seem like much more, but it really makes a difference you know. But, George and I have been having this little argument for quite some time. Whenever we try to test the thing and see how long the darkness lasts with the newer version, we never finish counting at the same moment. He always gets to twelve, and I always get to seven. So, your job Hermione, would simply be to help us measure how much time the lights are actually out, so we can get a third opinion. If you get to twelve, God forbid, then I'll admit that George _may_ be right and we'll lower our doses. But if you get to seven, which you surely will, we'll adjust our ingredients to stretch our time span. Understand?" He asked.

Hermione scoffed.

"You're asking me to _count_, Fred. I think I get it!" She exclaimed mockingly.

It seemed simple enough. Hell, it _was_ counting after all; he couldn't really of asked her to do _anything_ simpler than that! But still…she had this sneaking suspicion that there was some kind of catch...

Fred rolled his eyes at her comment before putting his hand into his pocket and pulling out a tiny, little sack. He took a pinch of black powder in between his fingers before looking over at Hermione.

"You ready?" He asked.

Hermione nodded quickly. She found that her stomach was suddenly bursting with thousands of hyper butterflies and her tongue seemed to have gone numb for some reason. She shook her head roughly and told herself to get a grip. What was wrong with her?

Fred gave her one last look before rubbing his fingers together and watching the powder slowly make its way down to the ground.

Hermione watched the descent of the tiny particles, until all of a sudden, complete darkness was all around her.

She blinked rapidly before remembering what it was that she was supposed to do.

"One," She started, her voice a tad higher and shakier than it normally was.

"Two," Fred continued, his voice sounding a lot closer than Hermione remembered it to be a few seconds ago.

"Three," She said, taking a step towards Fred's voice, as she really didn't feel all that safe standing alone in the total darkness.

"Four," Fred said, and Hermione heard him take a couple steps closer as well.

"Five," She whispered, taking another step forwards before colliding gently into Fred's solid figure.

"Six," He said quietly, taking hold of Hermione's arms so that she wouldn't fall over because of the impact.

"Seven," Hermione gasped, throwing her arms around Fred's neck to steady herself. She found that her breaths were coming much quicker than before and her head felt quite light.

"Eight," He said softly, his arms snaking their way around Hermione's waist and holding her much closer than was really necessary.

"Nine," She said so quietly, Fred couldn't of had heard her, had he not been so close he could practically feel her sweet breath delicately fanning his face.

"Ten," He finished as their lips finally connected in the sweetest kiss of pure bliss either of them had ever experienced.

They both stayed like that for many more seconds to follow, lips moving softly against each over in the gentlest way possible. Hermione's mind had left her completely and was swimming along somewhere quite pleasant, as every other one of her senses tingled happily and shot sparks up and down her paralyzed body.

Fred was quite simply in heaven.

They broke away too quickly for either of their liking, but found that the need to breath couldn't be denied any longer.

The lights suddenly flicked back on and Hermione found herself staring into Fred's dark eyes, which were even more amazing than she remembered them to be and filled with endless amounts of joy and…was it love?

"You." He said simply, his face still so close to hers that she felt the word more than actually heard it.

"You, what?" She asked dazedly. Her mind still hadn't fully returned to her body.

Fred chuckled at her confused state. She really did look adorable like that.

"You wanted to know who the girl was. The utterly perfect girl that I fell for and can never have. It's you Hermione." Fred said softly.

Hermione's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Me?" She asked, utterly bewildered.

"Of course. Who else could it possibly be? What other girl is there on this earth that is quite as perfect as you are?" Fred asked affectionately, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Hermione smiled at the contact. Her thoughts were beginning to make sense again.

Fred Weasley liked her. _The_ Fred Weasley. Prankster extraordinaire, total rule breaker and positively hilariously cute Fred Weasley liked her! A thousand and one questions began exploding everywhere inside her brain. Why? Where? How? When?

But, she decided to set them aside…for now anyway. Only one thing mattered to her right now and that was the guy standing in front of her.

She had never even considered the possibility of them being together. The thought had honestly never crossed her mind.

But, she realized with a huge smile, she quite liked the idea of it. In fact, she really couldn't think why she hadn't though of it sooner…it all seemed to make such sense!

Maybe her _conscious_ mind had never realized it, but she may have been subconsciously entertaining the idea for some time…but for whatever reason, Hermione suddenly found herself unconditionally happy and content to be in Fred's arms and realized that she wasn't quite ready to resign her place there as of yet.

"You know, you are once more a very stupid man." She said with a gentle smile.

"And why is that my dear Hermione?" Fred asked softly.

"Well for one, you said I was perfect when you know perfectly well that there is in fact no such thing as a perfect human being." She began in an obvious tone.

"To me there is and she happens to be in my arm right this instant." Fred whispered.

Hermione grinned and shook her head after giving his a playful peck on the nose.

"And secondly, you said that you could never, ever have me. I'm afraid, my dear Fred, that after a kiss quite as spectacular as that was, I have no other choice but to be yours for a very, very long time." She said, eyes twinkling happily as she saw the expression of joy in his.

"You really mean it?" He asked unbelievingly.

Hermione nodded.

"On one condition, though. You never abandon me in this house alone ever again, understand? Unless you're here to keep me company, that is." She said with a cheeky smirk.

"Well…I suppose that could be arranged." Fred said in a tone of mock uncertainty before diving in for another kiss.

_**Two weeks later**_

"So, she never _did_ figure out that it was just you flicking the lights on and off, huh?"

"Nope."

"You ever gonna tell her?"

"Nah…not yet anyway."

"You know you owe me big for thinking up a plan quite as brilliant as _that_, my dear brother."

"Don't count on it Georgie. I was the one that set you up with Katie, remember?"

"…"

"Alright, fine so we're even."

"FRED!"

"Whoops! Gotta go mate. My beloved girlfriend calls to me!"

George watched his twin skip off in an absurdly joyous way, whistling a tune as he went.

He shook his head with a huge smile playing on his lips.

"Guess madness and love really are quite simultaneous."

**END**

**A/N: YAY!! My first Hermione/Fred fic is now complete! I'm happy…are you? Or did this cause you quite a lot of pain, misery and boredom? Either way, press the pretty little purplish blue button and let me know!! I'll love you forever babe…metaphorically that is! ;) **

**Cheers! **

**HermioneTwin**


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